They won’t be particularly exciting, but the Ducks, playing their own vanilla brand of basketball, have found a way to get it done all season. They allowed 68 points and were only up seven at half, although they managed to pull away by the score of 82-68. They have a pair of backcourt players who stand 6-7. They’ll look for easy baskets inside, as they shot just 34% from beyond the arc this season. It sounds simplistic but the Terps will need their best player to be their best player to upset the best team in the country.
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Ratings for Sunday’s game peaked in the last 15 minutes, while the outcome was very much in question. What holds OR back is its No. 43 defense, but it did prove potent down the stretch against St. Joseph’s, which had the No. 27 ranked offense on kenpom.com.
Notre Dame 76, Stephen F. Austin 75: Rex Pflueger tapped in a miss with 1.5 seconds left, and the Irish (23-11) survived a valiant effort by the 14th-seeded Lumberjacks (28-6) in Brooklyn to reach the Sweet 16 for the second consecutive season.
Hield sat for the final 4:25 of the first half with two fouls. If not, head to your nearest television or streaming device and enjoy the replay.
In fact, Hield did not score for the first 10 minutes of the game and made only two of eight shots in the first half.
The best player in college basketball?
The Sooners’ balance would be hard for OR to match up with in a potential Elite Eight showdown. I believe OU has the experience edge and a better offensive arsenal that the Aggies, and if it comes down to free throws, OU has the advantage there, as well.
PRESSURE DEFENSE: VCU likes to press and trap, which could create problems for an Oklahoma squad that can be turnover prone.
When Hield isn’t on his game, it almost makes his opponent tighter because they know the “Buddy Buckets” are inevitable.
We’re probably witnessing the final games of Ingram’s brief college career. But Ingram has been consistently excellent, scoring 20 points against the Seahawks and 25 points against the Bulldogs. And so, the top four teams in the region entering the tournament exited the first weekend, all still possessing dreams of making it all the way to Houston.
Now he’s everybody’s All-American and four wins from a national championship. With 14:33 left in the game, VCU drew within 54-48.
The Aggies earned their way to Anaheim with an opening-round victory over Wisconsin-Green Bay and an unbelievable comeback and double-overtime triumph in the round of 32 over Northern Iowa. Just consider that for a moment.
The second half started with back-to-back three’s for Johnson, and the Rams used two separate runs of 7-0 and 8-0 to claw back into the game.
“When he makes one, you think – it’s nearly every time he makes one, there’s a possibility for that because that’s when he makes the second, third one back-to-back”, Sooners coach Lon Kruger said.
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Even with Hield’s closing flurry, the Rams remained in the game until the end.
